Linguistics Department Teaching Assistant Priority Policy

Teaching assistant positions in the Department of Linguistics require academic training
and skills appropriate to the course in which the teaching assistant is to work. This normally
means a minimum of a) completion (or near completion) of a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics or
an equivalent discipline, and b) competence in the sub-discipline of the course. Candidates may
document this with a record of appropriate course work, research, and/or relevant experience.

Qualified candidates will have priority for appointment according to the following criteria,
ranked in order from highest priority to lowest:

1. Registered graduate students from within the department who have accumulated 25 or
   fewer base units (for M. A. students), or 40 or fewer base units (for Ph. D. students) in
   prior TA appointments.
2. Registered graduate students from within the department over the base unit limits
   noted in 1. above.
3. Registered graduate students from outside the department who have accumulated 25
   or fewer base units (for M. A. students), or 40 or fewer base units (for Ph. D. students)
   in prior TA appointments.
4. Registered graduate students from outside the department over the base unit limits
   noted in 3. above.
5. All other applicants (undergraduate or external applicants). Before undergraduate
   students and external applicants are offered positions, each qualified applicant in the
   priority categories 1-4 above must be offered at least four base units, unless the
   graduate student requests less.

If an assignment within a priority group requires a selection between applicants, the
department will give sub-priority to the graduate student without financial support from merit
based scholarships or merit based fellowships. After that, the following criteria will determine
priority, in the order given: 1) candidates with unfulfilled commitments for TA support as stated
in their offer of admission from the Linguistics Department will be given priority over other
applicants, and 2) candidates with a lesser amount of funding from other sources (scholarships
and research assistantships) will be preferred over candidates with higher levels of funding.

If Teaching Assistant positions become available after the initially posted positions, the
department will notify all graduate students registered in the department via email. These
positions will be posted on the central posting website and shall remain open for at least two
working days prior to being awarded.
 
All positions are subject to budgetary approval.

Simon Fraser University is committed to the principle of equity in employment and offers equal
employment opportunities to qualified applicants.

Freedom of information and protection of privacy:  The information on this form is collected under
the authority of the University Act (R.S.B.C. 1996, c.468, s. 27(4)(a)), and the University’s policy of
collection of Personal Information (I 10.05).  The information is directly related to processing your
application for a teaching assistant appointment and for offers of employment for successful applicants. If
you have any questions about the collection and use of this information please contact the chair,
Department of Linguistics.

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Conference Travel Funding

1. Funding for travel to conferences (TMRA) is available to Linguistics graduate students in each academic year.
   
2. The value of the award may vary each year, depending on the budget and the number of applicants. On average, the department aims to award from $300 to $400 to a successful applicant.  
3. Recipients must be registered in a Master's or Doctoral program, in good standing (not "on-leave" or "part-time" or on extension of time limit).
4. The awards are distributed on a first come, first served basis to deserving applicants, so please submit your application as early as possible.
5. You may submit an application before you know whether your paper has been accepted by the conference. In case an award has been given to you but your paper is rejected by the conference, you will forfeit the award.
6. We will hold three competitions for TMRA each academic year and will announce the deadlines for each competition by email.
7. Application is made on the GA3 system. In addition to your application on GA3, you will need to submit to the Graduate Secretary:
   a) call for papers or a conference program;
   b) an abstract of the paper to be presented at the conference;
   c) estimated costs;
   d) unofficial transcript.

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Adjudicating Graduate Fellowships (GF's)

MA and Ph.D applicants will be considered for GFs separately.  GFs will be allocated proportionately to the number of applicants in each category. Some GFs may be reserved for students about to enter the graduate program.

Criteria

1. GF recommendation by supervisor.
2. Higher priority goes to students who have not been previously awarded a GF.
3. GPA with respect to pace taken through the program.
4. Publications, conference participation, scholarships, grants, fellowships (following academic evaluation criteria).
5. Participation in the department (workshops, colloquia).
6. Progress (on the basis of the annual evaluation by the supervisor).

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